LSU head coach Lane Kiffin's anticipated return to face his former team, the Ole Miss Rebels, has featured a dramatic build-up involving quarterback Sam Leavitt's playing status on the LSU injury report. Leavitt, 21, was listed as doubtful earlier this week, but was recently upgraded to questionable, with the game set for Saturday night. Many people believe the injury situation is a strategy Kiffin is using to mess with the Ole Miss defense.
Rebels head coach Pete Golding, formerly Kiffin's defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, is among those who don't buy into Leavitt having an injury that will keep him out of Saturday's game. On Saturday, a brief text exchange between Golding and Kiffin circulated online to back that notion further. More news: Nick Saban Convinced Sam Leavitt’s Injury is a Troll Job Ahead of LSU-Ole Miss During his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday, Golding revealed the hilarious text exchange in which he basically displayed he doesn't believe Leavitt is going to be out.
"Hey, our quarterback's out," Kiffin said in the text. I bet he is," Golding responded in their exchange. "I've been around here a lot of Wednesdays with you," Golding also said he told Kiffin.
"I think our first one, we had 42 guys on the first-ever SEC injury report on a Wednesday. So I was like, 'Yeah, man. See you Saturday.'" More news: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney Stunned by His Surprising College Coach Ranking Clearly, Golding knows many of the tricks and tactics Kiffin used from working as DC on his Ole Miss staff since 2023, before being promoted to head coach late last year.
Through two games, Leavitt has completed 41 of 66 passes for 574 yards and two touchdown passes. Leavitt has also thrown four interceptions, been sacked five times, and has a passer rating of 133. Without Leavitt, LSU could be in for a long game, but they have Elon transfer Landen Clark as a backup.
Ahead of the game, the LSU Tigers are favored by a field goal. They rank fourth in passing yards with 358 per game and are tied for 18th in points scored, averaging 48 per game. LSU is also tied for 22nd in points allowed, allowing just 12 points per game to opponents so far.
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